Learning from the radical change initiative in British aerospace military aircraft

Abstract

Academic researchers and practitioners are always keen to know more about
organizational practices. Some experts even claim that academic researchers are
ignorant about organizational knowledge. Given that the study is an attempt to
provide an exemplar from real life in order to increase the organizational
awareness of the academic community and practitioners. The objective of the study
is to understand and learn the experience of a radical change initiative that took
place within the Military Aircraft division of British Aerospace over the period
1993-98. The emphasis is on the effectiveness of the change methodology applied
in the process of change.
Open-ended interviews and documents were the major sources of the data used in
the case study. The interviews reflected the actual experiences of those who were
involved, while the documents provided contextual data and information on the
key themes of the change. Nine change projects were examined which were
introduced during five-year period. Analysis showed that there was a huge gap
between the organization's practices and those of the benchmark companies. This
gap is what BAe sought to lessen/remove through radical change initiative. The
study postulates that the qualitative paradigm can shape the analysis of such a
change initiative by contextualizing the phenomenon. Pettigrew et al's (1989)
framework has beena pplied to assessth e change,w hich consistso f the context, the
content and the process.
The change programme was a successful attempt to increase internal efficiency,
developing business partnerships and strengthening customer satisfaction. The
study concludes that there is a strong relationship between the extent of management
sponsorship, employees involvement, a flatter organizational structure, efficient use of
technology, an effective change methodology and the success of such radical change
initiatives. The experience of this company can be used in other organizations provided
that their drivers for change are similar to those of the company investigated.